


The relationship of Amanda and Joe

by Keenir



Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-04
Updated: 2012-09-04
Packaged: 2017-11-13 12:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/503713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keenir/pseuds/Keenir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are ways for Watchers to date Immortals, to be romantically involved with them.  And this is one of the right ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The relationship of Amanda and Joe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lasairfhiona](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/gifts).



> This was a tricky write...but satisfying, as it helped me put into place some things that've been rather nebulous in my thinking in this fandom til now. Thank you for this Request.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Joe had just finished wiping off the bartop itself, and was starting on the glasses, when Methos walked in, shrugged off the dusting of snow, and slid up to the bar. "Not the most dignified return you've ever had," was all Joe said.

"Dignity is overrated," Methos said. "Tends not to keep out the cold."

"Beer?"

"Oh please."

Joe set down the glass long enough to fill a clean one and pass it to Methos. "Anything I can write down that you've been up to?"

"I saw Amanda yesterday," Methos said.

No response beyond the keen eyes and ears of a Watcher on duty.

Methos smiled. "Is this it?"

"What's the it?" Joe asked.

"How did you do it?” Methos asked.

“Do what?” Joe asked, wiping off a glass.

“Manage to have a relationship with Amanda, yet keep it so far under the radar that even I almost didn’t learn of it.”

Joe shrugged.

“The woman who avoids rules and arrangements like the plague, Joe,” Methos said.

“You want the truth?” Joe asked.

Methos looked at him expectantly, the _yes_ clear in the ancient’s eyes.

“For starters, I’ve avoided mentioning the Plague. For another..."

"Yes?"

"This is it. That's how."

Even MacLeod would have said 'what? come on, Joe' - but Methos nodded. "I see." And then he frowned.

"Problem with the beer?" Joe asked.

"Never with beer," said the oldest of the Immortals. "Just wondering something."

"This is going to end with me following the three of you across a continent again, isn't it?"

"Depends on how they play their cards," Methos said with a grin. The grin slid away as he asked Joe, "So when I was telling you that I knew Alexa was going to die, that twenty years and six months were equally short periods to treasure with a loved one... Were you and Amanda then...?"

"Looks like you don't see," Joe said.

"What, a vow of silence? The Watchers haven't had that oath since the 3rd Century. Maybe you're confusing it with the vow of secrecy, in which case you can tell me."

"Tell the world's oldest Watcher?"

"M-hm," Methos nodded.

Joe didn't say anything.

Methos took a sip more of beer, and looked at Joe through the amber. "Please don't say you won't break a trust, because you've already done that. Ditto for agreements and promises."

"Tell you what," Joe said, setting the towel and now-cleaned glass to one side. Leaning on the bar, Joe said, "I'll tell you what you want to know, but it'll cost you."

"Fine by me. I'll pay the fines. You want to know who killed Alexander the Great? Done. Or whose dagger was the fatal blow for Caesar? Easy."

"You have to stop drinking for the rest of your Immortal life."

Methos stared at him, set his beer down, and stared at Joe another minute before saying, "You are an evil, evil man."

"Amphora, meet kettle," Joe said.

"Speaking of, barkeep, another round, on me. What'll you have?"

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**  
 _"The woman he loves is dying. What would you do?"_  
 **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"You are adorable," Amanda said, kissing him again. And paused.

"If you're counting my grey hairs, I could save you some time, you know."

Amanda smiled and looked him dearly in the eyes. "I know. And I appreciate that. But I was thinking of something bigger."

Joe tried to recall if there was anything particularly valuable visiting the area museums now or in the near future. "Oh?"

"Your birthday."

He made a noise.

"I'm serious. What would you like?"

"Whatever you get me, if anything," Joe said.

Now Amanda made the noise. "Pft, I've gotten you _trinkets_ before. I want you to think long and hard, Joe Dawson, about what you want."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I admit, I could have worded that better," Amanda said, then saw the smile appearing on his lips. "You imp," she said, unable and unwilling to stop the matching smile on her own lips.

"You know what I want, Amanda?" Joe asked her.

"Name it. Just name it. And I'll get it."

Joe knew she was serious. Deadly serious. He could have asked for MacLeod's enemies heads on pikes, for the leadership of the Watchers, and Amanda would have found a way to accomplish it...even if it wasn't ready for this upcoming birthday. And he knew that if he was silent or said 'I want nothing,' she would simply linger and ask again.

The credo of all Watchers was _Observe and record, and never interfere._

No matter who Amanda was going up against, Joe never got in the way. Never poisoned the opposition's chances or crippled them long enough for Amanda to take the win. He had seen other Watchers do that for the Immortals they came to love.

"Promise me you won't visit my grave too often," Joe said.

Amanda blinked. "I promise. Not that you'll be dying any time soon."

He could have asked 'you know something I don't?' . . . But preimmortality was like duels - not something they discussed about one another with one another. Their relationship allowed talking about people who would become Immortal one day soon, talking about peoples' pre-Immortal days (like Ritchie and the prophecy-filled days of MacLeod), and duels in the past. But the issue of if Dawson would one day join the Game, was as unspoken as who Amanda was going to fight in days to come: simply not done.

"Good to know," Joe said. "You want breakfast?" Neither of them interfered in the other's relationships, or said anything about who the other one slept with or fought with. They got together when they could, circumstances permitting; it was enough for them.

"I know what I want," Amanda said, wrapping arms around him. She still wasn't entirely sure what Joe wrote in his reports on her whereabouts on days or nights such as this, or if the Watchers knew about their relationship; _maybe they don't object so long as there's no abuse of information or power or anything,_ she had come to figure. Even now, there were still gaps in what she knew about the organization.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**  
 _"That would make a hell of a read."_  
- **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"Happy Birthday, Joe," Amanda said to him in his now-empty bar, having set a thick flattish object on the bartop between them.

It was about the size of a man's torso. Or a head in a box. Joe tried not to think of the Immortals who started framing their decapitations. "Didn't I ask you not to get me anything?" he asked her.

She waved that off. "You're welcome," she said with a smile.

"Thank you," Joe said.

"Yes, now please, open the present," said a familiar voice in the shadows. Only now did the Buzz come to Amanda's senses.

Methos stepped out of the shadows, that old smile on his face.

"How did you do that?" Amanda asked.

"Surprised?" Methos asked.

"I've only ever known Rebecca to be able to do that."

Methos stood there.

"You taught Rebecca?"

"Kronos taught her," Methos said. _He liked her independence. Didn't break her, thinking she could be useful against me. But then he lost track of Rebecca, who found that castle...and you._

"We know who taught Rebecca," Joe said.

Methos nodded. "Now you can cross-reference. A new piece in the Watcher records."

"And why are you here?" Amanda asked.

“Me? I’m just here to wish Joe a happy birthday,” Methos said.

Amanda looked at him cautiously.

“No challenges, no duels, not even a question.”

Joe looked from Amanda to Methos to Amanda to the present. “Tell me you didn’t steal his sword,” Joe said lightly, to break the room’s tension.

In answer, Methos drew his sword and set it on a table by him.

_Okay, that's out of the way,_ Joe thought. And once Joe started unwrapping the present, he began to have a funny feeling about what it was…and that became a bad feeling…which was confirmed when he finished unwrapping it. “I’m going to take a wild guess here.  The Methos Chronicles?”

“Happy Birthday, Dawson,” Methos said.

“So, not mad?” Amanda asked Methos.

“Why would I be mad? The only damage was to my ego - you did, after all, get past all the security I set up around them. Four thousand years of studying anti-burglar systems, at that.”

“By designing or breaking them?” she asked, curious.

“Both.” To Joe, “And enjoy.”

“That’s it, you’re just leaving?” Joe asked.

"Why would I leave?" Methos asked.

"Then...?" Amanda asked, voicing what Joe was wondering as well.

"Turn to page three."

Joe turned the pages, which were remarkably well-preserved.

And when he arrived at the third page, Joe saw why the pages were of such quality. "It's in English," he said to Amanda, then said it again to Methos.

"And page five," Methos said.

Lying atop page five was a scrap of paper with the following written on it: **Happy Birthday, Joe. You deserve it. All of it.**

"Any and all options on what 'it' is," Methos said, hearkening back to their earlier conversation involving the phrase 'this is it.'" 

"Should I ask?" Amanda asked. _You knew I was going to break in and take it?_

Deliberately misinterpretting the question, Methos said, "This'll be one of the better secrets I've ever kept. Don't worry." 

"Like those two words ever end well," Joe said, appreciating the statement, though. 

"Joe, it took twenty-five-hundred years for anyone besides Cassandra to even suspect I was part of the Four Horsemen. By the time anyone learns of you and Amanda, she'll have already won the Prize." 

"Sounds good." 

"I won't win it," Amanda said. 

**"I beg to differ," Methos said, and Joe nodded, slinging an arm around her.**

"I've already won," Amanda said. 

"Can't argue with that," Joe said. 

"If I didn't know what you were talking about, I'd be very worried," Methos said. _As it is, I'll leave the two of you to your celebrating. Happy Birthday, Joe. And again, congratulations to the both of you,_ he thought as he slipped out and away, unnoticed. 


End file.
